This week, the agenda of the session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine includes strategically important for the agricultural sector a draft bill 5202-d "On Water Users’ Organizations and hydrotechnical land reclamation". The whole farmers’ community, especially agricultural producers of the southern regions, is waiting for its adoption. With climate changes to an arid one, the restoration and further development of irrigation systems is a matter of food security.

The draft bill 5202-d allows agricultural producers to develop irrigation on their own. By uniting in WUOs, they will be able to take on the balance low-level reclamation system facilities, restore and modernize them at their own expense or attract investment.

“According to the experience of our participants, who build their own irrigation systems, has shown, with their usage the yield from 1 hectare increases 2-3 times. Therefore, this bill is really very important for farmers - it is about the opportunity to reach a new level. The main thing is that agricultural producers are ready to invest in irrigation, they are just waiting for a mechanism that will allow them to do so, and it is written in the draft bill 5202-d,” said the UAC Chairman Andrii Dykun.

Moreover, this plenary week’s agenda included the draft bill №6199 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine to Clarify Provisions Concerning Notarial and Registration Actions in the Process of Acquiring Land Rights", the provisions of which simplify the purchase of certain types of agricultural land. Currently, for the purchase and sale of agricultural land for the appointment of a notary, a number of inspections are required of the owner and buyer of the plot. This problem is especially acute for sellers and buyers of small plots of land.

To simplify the procedure, the draft bill №6199 abolishes notarial inspections of buyers of some agricultural land for compliance with restrictions on land ownership of up to 100 hectares. The norm applies to:

• land plots up to 0.25 hectares, with a purpose for horticulture;
• land plots up to 2 hectares, with the purpose of personal farming (PF), which are located within the settlement.

In addition, the bill defines the area of ​​land that is jointly owned by the spouses, expands the list of persons who are prohibited from buying agricultural land, and so on.